Sweet Coins are risk takers. It’s been over a year since the release of their most successful single, the pop-punk-inspired ‘Worth It’, and yet Sweet Coins sound like a different band now.
The transition to a more abrasive style began with the Hatfield band’s single ‘LOOK AT U’. The single was splattered artfully with the spritely sounds of hyperpop, giving Sweet Coins a uniquely heavy-but-not-heavy sound.
New single ‘Happy?’ is much the same. Not quite as catchy as ‘LOOK AT U’, the song still manages to combine pop hooks with grinding guitars and barded basslines.
It’s an excess of noise. It’s a positive when the instruments coalesce to a cacophonous powerhouse. But occasions where guitar solos feel buried beneath that excess are frustrating.
But it’s easy to see why Sweet Coins took that approach. This is pop music for the shoegaze fans, as evidenced by the band’s careful appreciation of tone and atmosphere.
Unlike ‘LOOK AT U’, this is more rock than pop, a single that’s indebted more to noisy recluses like Dinosaur Jr. than to vivacious creatives like 100 Gecs. The closing guitar break is an especially chugging affair.
Sweet Coins have injected a weightiness to this single that, while present in the past, feels more integrated than ever into their ever-expanding cocktail of noise.
That a band can release such opposing sounding singles while simultaneously sounding themselves on both is a rare gift. There’s little indication as to where they’ll go next but with such an array of influences, its anyone’s guess.
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